Weather reports which include solar radiation

[papaof2]

The University of Georgia has a weather network set up at locations throughout the state. The information available now includes something that anyone interested in solar power should be very happy with: the instantaneous solar irradiation in Watts / Square meter. Why? solar panels are rated at 1000 watts/sq meter so if your 250 watt panel is only delivering 125 watts and the UGA weather Network station nearest is showing
Solar Radiation 500.8 W/m2
then you know exactly why the panels are not delivering full output ;-)

Link to sample station: weather.uga.edu/index.php?content=calculator&variable=CC&site=DALLAS

There's a popup list at the bottom of the page which allows you to pick any of the stations. I haven't explored what the other 49 states have but you should check for weather studies your state colleges / universities might be involved in. There is also farm data, such as soil temperature 2, 4 and 8 inches below the surface. What soil temperature is safe to plant your peas, beans, greens? It also has the oil moisture content and today's long, slow rain (since about 6:30AM) might have affected that number.

[feralferret]

Many Weather Underground stations also report the instantaneous solar irradiation in Watts / Square meter.

[papaof2]

And there may be a www.wunderground.com/ station much closer to your location than the college/university study stations.

Last time I checked, there was one about 2 miles from me.

I just did the check again and that station is no longer in the wunderground network :-( But there is one just a little farther away ;-)

Using the lat/long calculator at www.omnicalculator.com/other/latitude-longitude-distance the current nearest wunderground station is a little over 3.5 miles east of me. That's a little closer than the general aviation airport in the next county but I don't know if the wunderground station has backup power. There is another wunderground station a little closer to me but their outdoor temperature is currently 7 degrees lower than ours (thermometer hanging in the shade of the screened porch and checked against 2 other thermometers so their average is close to correct) so I question the accuracy of their temperature readings.

If you don't know your lat/long, there are multiple sites that can turn an address into lat/long:

Google, Yahoo, Geocoder, Ibegin - or just search for "What's my latitude and longitude?" which should give you multiple options.

If you have "location" turned on on your phone, it has your current lat/long. I don't have "location" turned on on any of my devices. If the restaurant chain wants my location when I search for a location, I'll input a zip code.